Legends of the Past
by Rekall
Summary: Having fled his home as a child Yami grows up not knowing he is really Prince Atemu, heir to the Magia kingdom. Now Yami starts his quest to over throw the evil Emperor to return peace to the land. [SetoYami]
1. The Start of the Legend

**Author's Note:** _Too many video games resulted in this story being written. Sorry for the OC, but you never see much of anything of Atemu's mother (nothing at all in the anime) and I needed someone in that role. She doesn't play an important part in the story though so she won't be around much longer. A note on the names: All names except for Mette was found while playing around with an online translator so I have no idea if the meaning of the words are accurate. Mette on the other hand is a name of a friend of mine and I always loved that name. _

A misty rain fell down upon the blackened land. The night was damp and direly as the guards around Tovenaar Castle stood napping on their feet. They had nothing to fear really as Magia was one of the most powerful nation in the land.

The reason why Magia was so powerful was because it was the last kingdom left in the entire world that knew the ancient secrets of magic and no one would dare to go up against such a powerful force. Black and Red Mages dominated the Magia army, while the White Mages could heal any wounds that they came across. Lastly there were the Summoners, who had the ability to call forth monsters known as Kaa. Even in Magia, Summoners were rare, as one had to be born with powerful magic skill and then train for years to gain the ability to summon Kaa. The last Summoner was born five years ago, and that person was the king's son, Atemu.

Tovenaar Castle itself was located in the middle of the kingdom, next to a large forest and in front of the towering Groot Mountain. To enhance their skills mages of all ages would travel into the forest and onto the mountain and fight the monsters located there. Sometimes the monsters would venture into the grassy area where the castle stood but that was not often. On the rare occasions when it did happen, mages were sent out by the king to deal with the problem.

As the quiet night continued on, the royal guards continued their napping, when suddenly a single arrow flew through the night sky towards the castle, striking a guard through his heart.

"Raise the alarms!" another guard yelled as more arrows flew in their direction.

From a top of the tall towers of the castle, the Black Mages could now make out the massive armed force rushing towards the castle on horseback with blue flags raised high in the air. Remaining calm, the Black Mages began chanting their spells and they unleashed a fire attack at the advancing army. The fast moving invaders however were prepared for the magic attack and quickly dodged out of the way as they continued to run at full speed towards Tovenaar Castle with their spears and swords ready in attack position.

The Black Mages cursed as their magic attacks kept missing the invading army. Black Mages were all but useless in hand to hand combat and the horses were rapidly approaching the castle. Soon the Red Mages with their average fighting and magic skills would be the only thing protecting the castle.

Inside Tovenaar Castle, the king and queen hurried towards the corridors. "Get Atemu and get out of here," King Akunumkanon ordered his wife as he hurried so that he could lead his troops. King Akunumkanon was a large man with graying hair and beard and was one of the few people dressed in armor. Black and White Mages found no use for armor feeling that it slowed down their ability to cast spells and Red Mages only wore minimal armor since they would sometimes have to become involved in close range fighting without magic. Although the king still had a youthful appearance he was almost ten years older than his petite raven-haired queen who was currently dressed in elegant white robes that showed off her status not as a queen but as a Summoner.

"I'm not leaving you!" Queen Mette angrily replied. Like her son, Mette was a Summoner and would be useful in battle. The Queen had no desire to run and hide like a weakling as this was her kingdom too.

"Think of Atemu," Akunumkanon gently told her as he paused for a second to look at her. "He is too young to be involved in this warfare. He needs your protection."

Mette gave a small sigh before quickly kissing her husband's lips. "Come back to me," she whispered to him before taking off in the opposite direction. Within moments she had reached her son's bedchambers.

"Mommy?" the five year old sleepily asked upon being woken up from his peaceful slumber.

"Hush, baby," Mette gently told him as she stroked his spiky tri-colored head. Ever since Atemu was born, Mette knew that he was special. He was powerful. Much more powerful than she had ever been at his age. Only a handful of people were powerful enough to be Summoners in their era and there was a hidden strength in Atemu that no one could explain. Already at the age of five he could summon a small Kaa monster called Kuribo whenever he wanted.

"What's going on Mommy?" Atemu asked in a small voice.

"We're going on a trip for a few days. Just you and me."

"Okay," Atemu replied as he slid out of his warm bed and started putting some things in a bag.

"No baby, we have to leave now," Mette explained with a shake of her head. Picking her son up in her arms, Mette hurried through the long corridors towards one of the many secret passages that lead out of the castle.

"You'll need these!" a voice called out and Mette swirled around to come face to face with a short older man with spiky gray hair. The man handed Mette some peasant cloaks that she quickly placed over herself and Atemu.

"Thank you Father," Mette replied before noticing the child in her father's arms. "Is that Yugi?" she asked referring to her nephew. Yugi was the four-year-old son of her brother, a Black Mage. Yugi was almost identical to Atemu except he has purple instead of ruby eyes and was pale compared to Atemu's dark skin.

"He shouldn't be around this," Shimon explained. "I'm getting him out of here."

"Yes," Mette approved with a nod of her head. She knew that both of Yugi's parents would be off fighting in the battle and if anything happened to them no one would care for young Yugi. Her father although once a powerful Black Mage like his son was far pass his prime, but he could still protect Yugi if the need arose. "Let us hurry."

The two adults and two small children hurried through the small dark passageway that was only lit every few meters by torches on the wall. Finally they emerged in a small cave among the rocks at the base of Groot Mountain. From their position they could see the fighting that was going on around the castle. Both of them shielded the children's faces when they saw the elegant robed bodies of the Black and Red Mages laying on the ground. They also saw despite White Mages running around as they attempted to heal the wounded but they two were falling under the arrow attacks.

"It's Draak," Shimon informed Mette with a frown on his face upon recognizing the banner in the fires that burned around the castle. King Gozaburo of the kingdom of Draak had always been a power hungry individual but never did they imagine that he would make a move on Magia.

"Akunumkanon," Mette whispered as she watched in horror as more of her people fell in battle.

"We need to get out of here," Shimon quietly informed her. "We should split up so it will be easier to hide. Take care my daughter and do not return here until the battle is over and Magia is victorious."

"Yes Father."

"Take care of Atemu too," Shimon added before picking Yugi up into his arms and hurrying off.

"Bye," Atemu sadly whispered as he waved goodbye to his cousin and friend.

"Come on baby," Mette softly commanded as she took Atemu's hand in her own and they started to head over the mountain. Mette's skills would be more than enough to protect them from any monster that would attack them. Atemu hesitated for a minute, wondering where his father was but soon he obediently obeyed his mother.

Little did the two of them know that would be the last time they would ever lay their eyes upon their home.

_Eleven Years Later…_

"Mother I'm home!" the sixteen year old teen called as he entered the small cottage where he and his mother lived. For all this life Yami had worked the fields of their small farm and hunted in the nearby woods to provide food for the two of them. It was a life however that Yami hated. He longed to move to the small town that they sometimes visited to pick up supplies.

"Thank you Atemu," his mother, Mette, replied with a small cough, which Yami immediately frowned at. During the winter season a few months ago his mother had fallen ill with that cough and she had yet to show any signs of improvement.

"Mother are you okay?" Yami asked with concern. "Should I travel to the village and seek some medicine?"

"No, I'm all right," Mette replied giving her son a weak smile. "Towns, villages and cities are dangerous places," she reminded him. Yami's mother had told him that all his life yet Yami could never figure out why. The village always seemed safe to him but anytime they went there Mette would always insist on calling him by his nickname 'Yami'. As far as Yami knew, no one but his mother knew that his real name was 'Atemu' instead of 'Yami'.

"Well I was thinking of heading to the village anyway," Yami admitted as he turned his head so that he would not have to look at his mother in the eyes.

"Oh?"

"Recruitment officers will be there today looking for people to join Emperor Gozaburo's army," Yami told her with a small sigh. Although he was small like his mother, Atemu had a nice firm body from working all his life.

"No!" Mette snapped. "You will do no such thing!"

"But-"

"No! You don't know what kind of man the Emperor is! I won't allow my son to ever become involved with a man like him!"

"So I'm supposed to waste away here my entire life like you?" Yami shot back. Rarely he became angry with his mother but he was sick and tired of his life on the small farm. Freedom called him and if joining the Emperor's army meant he got that freedom then so be it.

"We're here because of that awful man!" Mette angrily snapped back before calming down. She always hated it whenever she yelled at her son. "You don't remember but back when he was still a king, Gozaburo invaded our home," she quietly told him. "Your father died in that battle."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Yami asked his voice a whisper.

"Because I wanted to forget about it," Mette admitted before another round of coughs over took her.

"Mother please lay down," Yami begged as he rushed over and tried to comfort her.

"I'm fine," Mette replied in an attempt to reassure him. Raising her head she gave her son a sad look. "I'm sorry my son. I know you are not happy here. And this isn't the life you were meant to lead."

"Mother."

"Your father would be ashamed to see us now," Mette continued as she began losing herself in her memories.

"Mother don't speak like that! I know I don't remember Father but in my heart I know that he could never be ashamed of us!"

"You're right Atemu," Mette replied a small smile appearing on her face. "You would have made a great King."

'King?' Yami wondered to himself. He longed to ask his mother what she meant but she had finally decided to take his advice and lay down for a while. Yami knew that she needed her rest or she would only become weaker. Therefore his questions would have to wait until later.

While his mother rested, Yami spent the rest of the day completing his chores and dreaming of life as an adventurer. He wondered what the rest of the world was like. Yami found their current home far too dry and longed to find a place with a more suitable climate. He was also bothered by his mother's latest revelation. What did being king have anything to do with him? He tried thinking back to his childhood, but all he could remember was life with his mother. Vaguely he remembered a large stone place, his old home perhaps?

When he had been eight his mother had showed him a locked chest. Yami could remember seeing her write scrolls and place them into the chest long before she had brought it to his attention. She had told him that if anything happened to her he should look in the chest for answers. Now more than anything he wonder just what his mother wrote on those scrolls and placed into the chest.

As night fell across the land, Yami crawled into his bed and allowed sleep to over come him. That night he dreamed of himself as a small child and of a furry little fluff ball, which he believed to be his friend. Just as the child hugged the fluff ball, a loud shout rang out from outside the cottage snapping Yami wide-awake.

"Come out! We know you're in there!" the commanding voice called.

"What do you want?" Yami heard his mother snap in reply as he hurried to the front door to see what was happening.

"The Emperor has ordered all men of age to be recruited into his army to deal with the rebels to the North," one of the two soldiers told her. "Villagers in the town we last visited told us that there was a young man living here. He'll have to come with us."

"No!" Mette firmly replied. "My son will have nothing to do with that monster!"

"Miss, please step aside," the second soldier replied as they both withdrew their swords.

"Leave her alone!" Yami yelled, rushing forward and stepping in between his mother and the soldiers. "She's ill!"

"Come with us sir."

"No!" Mette cried. "Yami you can't!" Mette tried ducking in front of her son but one of the soldiers roughly shoved her to the ground. Mette cried out in pain as her frail body hit the hard wooden floor.

"Mother!" Yami cried as his anger soared. Yami's ruby eyes, glowed bright red as the small fluff ball from his dream appeared in the air in front of him. Without waiting for a command from its master the little fluff ball attacked the soldiers sinking it's sharp teeth into whatever bare skin was available. In pair the two soldiers ran off and the little fluff ball then disappeared as soon as it had appeared while Yami's eyes returned to normal.

Yami stood there in shock for a few moments before his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fainted dead away.


	2. The Adventure Begins

**A/N** - I'm glad that people are liking the story. It comes as no surprise that Pysche has already figured out some of the story. Girl there is no way you're going to figure out the entire thing though. :p

Oh, Mette is prounouced as Mett (or Met I guess). The 'E' on the end is silent.

* * *

"Atemu are you okay?" a gentle voice asked. Blinking open his eyes, Yami stared up into the concerned face of his mother. Glancing around, Yami saw that he was back in his own room.

"Yes, I'm fine," Yami replied as he sat up and cradled his head in his hands. His head was killing him. "What happened?"

"It's because you haven't used your powers in so long," Mette explained with a small sigh. "It's my fault, I should have trained you as you grew, especially when I realized you remembered nothing. I'm sorry Atemu I was selfish. I thought that the two of us could live here in peace without being discovered, so I saw no need to train you."

"Train me in what?" Yami asked in alarm. "What was that thing?"

Mette gave Yami a gentle smile, easing some of his worries. "That 'thing' was a Kuribo. He was your favorite playmate as a child." Mette's violet eyes shone and the little fur ball returned. The Kuribo bounced against Yami chest and the confused former prince gently wrapped his arms around the small furry body. The Kuribo cuddled close to Yami's chest making happy noises as Yami petted its fur.

"How is this possible?" Yami murmured in amazement.

"We are summoners from Magia," Mette explained.

"Magia? I never heard of that place."

"Nor would you have," Mette replied with a small sigh. "It was destroyed when you were a child by the emperor. He slaughtered almost everyone because he feared our power. Every Magian is born with the power to use magic. We were a powerful race but we were over confident in our abilities. We did not expect an attack and by the time we could start mounting a defense Draak's troops were close enough that they could easily strike us down while we were busy chanting our spells. After Tovenaar fell the rest of our kingdom soon followed. Gozaburo kept a few of us alive to conduct experiments on trying to find a way to gain our powers and used them for his own advantage."

"Are we the only ones who escaped?" Yam asked his voice a whisper. As his mother talked he hugged the Kuribo tighter needing the warm comfort he received from it.

"I don't know," Mette admitted. "The night Tovenaar Castle fell, my father and his grandson, your grandfather and cousin, escaped with us but we separated so that it would be harder for us to get caught. I have no clue whether they survived or not. It's possible that others escaped as well but I heard after he became Emperor there was a massive hunt to kill anyone with any magic abilities."

Yami's eyes widen in alarm as his mother's words. "But those guards….they saw…"

"I know," Mette before leading her son out of his bedroom. Behind them the Kuribo floated through the air after them. Mette led Yami to the chest that she had long ago showed him. Taking out a key, Mette opened the chest and showed him the contents inside. "Here," she said pulling out a black, silk, robe that was trimmed in gold. "I've been making this for you for the past couple of years."

"Mother, thank you," Yami replied. The young prince slipped the robe over his tunic as Mette pulled some more things out of the chest.

"These scrolls contain summoning spells," Mette informed him as she shoved them into a bag and then handed it to him. The next thing she pulled out of the chest was a staff. "Here, take this as well. Practice using the staff and summoning Kaa every day! That staff is a magical one designed by our people and it will help you with your summonings."

"Mother I don't understand," Yami said to her in a pained voice.

"Baby, you have to leave here. Those soldiers, they'll be back."

"But what about you?!" Yami protested as Mette stood up and picked up a heavy brown cloak from a nearby chair. She then tied the cloak around her son's neck.

"I can't go with you," Mette explained as a violent set of coughs overcame her.

"Mother!"

"Atemu, go!" Mette commanded through her coughs. "I will deal with anyone who come looking for you."

"But where should I go?"

"Anywhere," Mette whispered and a small smile formed on her face. "Go where your heart takes you. You must be careful though, not only are you a Summoner but you are also the prince of Magia. You will be turned over to the Emperor for both of those reasons."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Of course you will," Mette replied. With a nod of his head, Yami turned around and walked out of the small cottage he had called home for most of his life. "Take care of him," she told the Kuribo.

"Kuri, kuri!" it replied before floating out the door after the young prince.

* * *

"So what should we do?"

"Kuri."

"That's not exactly good advice," Yami had been walking for what seemed like hours. The fields surrounding his home were long gone and he now found himself walking through a large forest. Yami was slowly starting to become bored out his mind as he had no clue where to go and his only companion could only repeat the word 'Kuri'. As far as Yami knew he was walking around in a circle. At least he was following a path so Yami hoped that he was headed in the right direction.

Yami continued to walk along his way, when a growling sound caused him to come to a sudden halt. "What was that?"

"Kuri!" the Kuribo cried, while it narrowed it's eyes.

The growling continued and from out of the woods a large, shaggy, blonde-haired dog appeared. "Umm…not good," Yami murmured pointing the end of his staff at the growling dog. In the air between Yami and the dog, Kuribo hovered ready to attack.

"Jounouchi!" A loud cry rang out throughout the forest. Yami raised an eyebrow and was mildly surprised as the dog obediently sat and quietly calmed down. "Sorry about that," a gentle voice said and Yami looked behind the dog to find a boy with long white hair and a monkey on his shoulder had appeared. "Jounouchi is awfully protective of me."

"Umm…okay," Yami replied eyeing the stranger. "I'm Yami."

"I'm Ryou," the white-haired stranger replied. "You've already met Jounouchi and this guy is Honda." The monkey then jumped off of Ryou's shoulder and climbed on top of Jounouchi's head. "That's a strange little animal," Ryou continued pointing to the Kuribo who was still glaring at Jounouchi. "I've never seen an animal like him before and I thought I knew every kind of animal in the world!"

"It's a Kuribo," Yami replied as he took the Kuribo in his arms and hugged it tightly.

"What's is his name?"

"Uhh…Kuribo?"

"It suits him," Ryou said with a smile on his lips, while he nodded his head. "So are you travelers too? The three of us are headed towards the North Country."

"North Country?" Yami questioned. Vaguely he remembered that the soldiers mentioned that there were rebels in the North Country. "Are you joining the Rebels?"

"Yes," Ryou admitted as he blushed realizing his error. "The Emperor killed my family."

"Me too," Yami sighed.

"Then come with us!" Ryou happily cried. "It'll be nice to have some human company!"

Yami glanced down at Kuribo in his arms before looking back up at Ryou and nodding his head. "Okay."

* * *

The Dark Prince, Seto rode high on his black stallion, Critias. His black armor glistened in the sunlight, his long white cape flowed in the wind behind as Critias strolled towards the small cottage. Behind Critias rode a dozen men all armed to the teeth.

Seto's blue eyes grew angrier as the cottage drew nearer. How dare his "father" send him on such an easy mission! Seto knew that the Emperor only wanted to keep him away from the capital and away from younger brother and Seto hated him for it.

With a growl, Seto nudged Critias into a gallop. When he neared the cottage he gracefully hopped off Critias and kicked open the door. He was surprised to discover a raven-haired woman inside wearing an elegant white robe.

"Hello," she calmly said.

"Where is the boy?" Seto demanded to know.

"Strange, you call my son a boy yet you are only a boy yourself. Let me guess, you're the Dark Prince I've heard so much about."

"I am," Seto replied as he narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"It's so nice to meet you. I am Queen Mette of Magia. I'm sorry I could not greet you in a proper fashion but I was ran out of my home many years ago by your father."

"Well _Highness_," Seto sneered, hating to be reminded of who is father was, "I must insist that you tell me where your son is."

"I do not know," Queen Mette replied with a small smile on her face. "And I'm sorry to say that I must cut our meeting short." It was then that Seto noticed the small golden dagger in her hands. Seto quickly pulled out his sword expecting an attack. Instead though the queen plunged the dagger into her gut.

Dropping his sword, Seto rushed over and caught Mette as she dropped to the ground. "Take care of my son," she whispered to Seto before closing her eyes.

* * *

"I'm hungry," Ryou complained. The pair (and their pets) had been traveling for hours. The land was now growing dark and they were still trapped in the forest.

"Me too," Yami agreed. "Perhaps we should stop for the night."

"Yeah I agree," a third voice added. Spinning around both Yami and Ryou found another white haired individual behind them.

"Thief," Yami growled.

"That's treasure hunter," the other person replied before throwing a sexy grin to Ryou. "Why hello there!"

"Bakura, stop it," Yami replied while rolling his eyes. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I was bored," the one called Bakura said as he shrugged his shoulders. "So what are we doing anyway?"

"We're on our way to the North Country to join the Rebels to fight the Emperor," Ryou helpfully informed Bakura. Yami groaned at that remembering they were supposed to keep a low profile.

"Well I guess I better come with you guys then," Bakura replied as he placed an arm around each of their shoulders and gave them both a grin. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship!"

"Don't touch me," Yami complained shoving the arm off his shoulder while wondering why the thief was there in the first place.

"What a grouchy little prince you are," Bakura murmured into Yami's ear as soon as Ryou began walking head of them with Jounouchi, while Honda still rode on Jounouchi's back.

"Shut up Bakura," Yami growled. "Do you want me to get caught? Actually don't answer it because I know you do. What have you been doing? Watching and following me this entire time?"

"Actually I stopped by your _home _to find all these soldiers around the place including the Dark Prince himself. Looks like you're an orphan now, kiddo."

The color drained from Yami's face as the news sunk in. "Mother is dead?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure the Dark Prince, made it quick and painless."

"Shut up! Just tell me who this Dark Prince is so I can kill him!"

"They say his name is Seto, he's the Emperor's son." With that Bakura ran a head to flirt with Ryou some more, leaving Yami in shock.

"Kuri?" Kuribo said as he hovered in the air in front of Yami. Once again the prince grabbed the Kaa monster out of the air and hugged it tightly to his chest.

* * *

**A/N** – There's actually a reason why Jounouchi is a dog and Honda is a monkey. That will be explained later in the story. ::grin:: 


	3. One Journey Ends, Another Begins

**A/N**- **First** of all thank you everone who reviewed. **Secondly**, This may be my last update for a few weeks. I'm going to try and get the next chapter for _Time Crisis _out but I'm not sure if that will happen. See my last exam is on Wednesday afternoonand I really need to study for this one. Immediately after that exam I'm heading to Florida. NowI live in Ontario and we're driving, so yes that's going to take us a couple of days since only my mom and I can pull all nighters (both my brother and dad need their sleep each night) and she doesn't drive so we're going to have to do this with 2 night stops to make it to my grandparents place for Christmas. While I'm in Florida my computer access goes way down since we only have the one laptop, which I'll be using to write the sequel to _Underneath the Mistletoe _(I'm not sure yet if I'll be posting an edited version here or not but it's going up at the Pharaoh's Palace all of you guys who are members there). So what I'm trying to say I probably won't get the chance to update again until after I'm back at school. I'll certainly try but no guarentees.

_amessis_ - Of course there will be more chapters!

_Phoenix87_- That is correct, but there is more too it. It's a major hint for later on. :laughs::

_?-_ I know I'm a bitch but what exactly are you refering too? Is it because you don't like yaoi? Are youold fan who tracked me down from my old account and is pissed I only write SetoxYami now? Are you a Palace lurker who is mad I spoke out against flamers? (your review did come in right after that) Are you pissed at where I left off in the story? Mad I updated this instead of Time Crisis? What?

_Pysche_- Pysche! You're supposed to be writing, not reading!(j/k) I'm ready and waiting to read Chapter 3 for you. (this time I'm not kidding) :p Oy, lets see...Honda and Jounouchi indeed were turned into animals but it doesn't have anything to do with Gozaburo. Think of someone who would get amusement out of Jou being a dog ::grin::. And yes you were obviously right about Seto (the really hot Dark Prince) being Gozaburo's adopted son.

_shadows of chaos61_- You're supposed to be writing too instead of reading this! :p

_Storm Dragon Girl_- Of course I like SetoxYami pics! You should see the collection I have! ::grin::

* * *

Time past quickly as the three humans, dog, monkey and Kuribo traveled northward. In barely no time at all, it seemed, they had reached the base of a large mountain. 

"I hear the Rebels' base is located somewhere on this mountain," Ryou explained to the other two.

"But it's so big!" Bakura groaned before turning his attention to Yami. "Can't you like make a dragon appear or something to carry us up?"

"How would he be able to do that?" Ryou innocently asked while Yami proceeded to whack Bakura on the back of his head.

"Come on guys," Yami said as he pulled up the hood of his cloak to keep away the chill and started following the path upwards, with Kuribo floating behind him. "It's not that high."

"He's right Bakura," Ryou added with a small smile, while he began to follow the prince. In front of him, Jounouchi bounded ahead with Honda hanging on for his dear life.

With a grumble, Bakura reluctantly started to following them wishing he had decided to join the other guy's side in this battle.

* * *

Prince Mokuba of Draak wished he could have a normal life. Mokuba and his elder brother were orphaned when they were extremely young and adopted by the Emperor. Neither knew who their real parents were and they had both learned the hard way that asking their adopted father was not the way to go. 

Mokuba often wondered why Gozaburo adopted them in the first place. He clearly didn't like or trust either of them. Mokuba knew that Seto was always threatened with his safety and Mokuba could go nowhere without being under the watchful eyes of the Emperor's most loyal troops.

One of the few times, Mokuba had to himself was when he was out riding, which he was only allowed to do on rare occasions. The horse that Mokuba was currently riding was much too big for him; it was one of the sons of Critias. But Mokuba liked the colt's connection to his brother's horse, especially since his brother was away so much.

As the horse galloped across the plane, Mokuba was soon losing control of the powerful animal. With a small cry, Mokuba tumbled to the ground, landing on his arm as it cracked under his weight. As Mokuba sat on the ground, cradling his broken arm, he wondered what he was going to do. He was in pain, he knew his arm was broken, yet the only person who cared about him would be away until later

Trying to will away the pain, Mokuba was amazed as a white light surrounded his arm. The pain in Mokuba's arm faded as the light continued to glow. When the light finally vanished, his arm was as good as new.

"Oh shit," Mokuba murmured when he realized what had happened.

* * *

"Lets rest here for a while," Bakura suggested pointing to the entrance of a small cave. "We've been wandering around this mountain for hours and still no sign of those Rebels you're looking for." 

"Quit complaining, no one asked you to come with us in the first place," Yami grumbled.

"Woof," Jounouchi agreed.

"Come on you two, I agree with Bakura," spoke up Ryou. "I'm tired. And hungry. I think we could use a break."

"Looks like you're outvoted Pha-_Prince_," Bakura taunted ignoring the confused look Ryou was giving him. "Only human votes count and it's two to one that we have a break." At Bakura's words, Jounouchi began madly barking and Honda started chirping while hoping up and down, falling off Jounouchi's back in the process.

"Calm down you two," Ryou commanded as he and Bakura began walking into the cave leaving the others behind them with Yami glaring at Bakura's back.

"Kuri?" Kuribo asked with concern.

"I'm killing him before this adventure is over."

"Woof."

Before Yami, the animals, and the Kaa could follow the other two into the cave they heard a cry of help coming from Ryou. Rushing further into the cave to stop Bakura from molesting Ryou, they discovered their two white-haired companions surrounded by a small group off people, all with weapons pointed at them.

"More intruders," one of the newcomers hissed at Yami and the pets.

"Spies of Draak," another declared.

"We're not spies!" Bakura declared while jerking his thumb towards Yami. "That's Prince Atemu of Magia! We're here to help!"

"Announce it to the world why don't you?!" Yami shot back at the thief while throwing off his brown cloak to reveal his Summoner's robes and spiky tri-colored hair. To his surprise, the short gray haired leader of the group kneed and bowed his head.

"Forgive me my prince," he said. "These days I am called Sugoroku but in the days of the mighty Magia Kingdom, I was called Shimon. Royal advisor and father-in-law to the King."

"You're my grandfather?" Yami asked him in puzzlement.

"Hai."

"Jiichan!" Yami happily cried rushing into this grandfather's arms.

"I hate to break up the family reunion here but could think you could call off your guards?" Bakura asked in annoyance brunette female guard jabbed him in the chest with the tip of her arrow.

"Oh of course!" Jiichan replied pulling away from Yami's embrace. "Anzu, back off dear. You and the others head off back to the camp and inform him I'll be along in a few minutes."

"Yes sir," Anzu stiffly replied. With a nod of her head her and the other Rebel troops headed back further into the deepest parts of the cave.

"Sorry about that," Jiichan said apologizing to Yami. "I never knew that these two were your friends."

"Only the smaller of the two is," Yami replied with a smirk on his face. "The other one just likes to follow me around making my life hell."

"I enjoy my job and do a good job at it!"

The others ignored Bakura as Jiichan began leading the small group of travelers through the maze like paths of the cave. After what seemed like hours they finally reached an open area where a small underground village had been constructed.

"Jiichan!" a voice cried out. Turning his head, Yami saw a small cloned copy of himself running to his grandfather.

"Yugi, this is Prince Atemu," Jiichan said introducing the boy, "your cousin."

"Nice to meet you Highness," Yugi replied with a huge smile on his face.

"Just Yami will do Aibou," Yami told him, taking an instant liking to his younger cousin. This caused Yugi to beam even brighter.

"You must all be tired," Jiichan said to them. "How about some rest or food and we can all catch up later?"

"Food!" Bakura and Ryou simultaneously said. If they could talk both Jounouchi and Honda would agree with them since neither dog nor monkey was ever full when it came to food.

"Come then," Jiichan said before leading Ryou, Bakura, Jounouchi and Honda off, leaving the two cousins alone.

"That thing is so cute!" Yugi cried pointing to the Kuribo who had remained floating next to Yami's head the entire time.

"It's a Kaa called Kuribo," Yami said. "I'm a Summoner."

"I know. I heard all about you growing up. Jiichan says you're really powerful. I'm a Black Mage or at least I'm training to be one. So I'm pretty powerful myself!"

"I'm sure you are Aibou," Yami replied with a small smile on his face.

Returning the smile, Yugi began leading Yami into the village so that the young prince could get some rest.

* * *

"Niisama are you awake?" a small voice asked as the door to Seto's private chamber opened slightly. Seto looked up from the parchment he was writing on at his desk to see his younger brother peeking his head into the room. 

"Come in Mokuba," Seto gently told his brother. Seto knew that Mokuba would come around sooner or later since he had just arrived back at the castle where they called home. "What's wrong? _Father _didn't hurt you while I was away did he?"

"No, it's something else," Mokuba whispered and Seto could hear the fear in his brother's voice.

"Mokuba what is it?" Seto asked with concern and Mokuba shut the door and raced over to the Dark Prince.

"I have a secret," Mokuba whispered.

"What is it?"

"I was out riding earlier when I fell off my horse."

"Were you hurt?" Seto asked in alarm.

"I was…" Mokuba began. "I landed on my right arm. It broke."

Seto's eyes widen with alarm as he gently took Mokuba's arm to inspect it. To his surprise he found that it was perfectly fine. "There's nothing wrong with your arm," Seto told him. "Did anyone give you ale again while I was away?"

"No. Niisama, I'm telling you it was broken. I was in a lot of pain and couldn't move it. Then this white light washed over me and it healed me. It was magic."

"Don't say that Mokuba!" Seto hissed as he clapped his hand over Mokuba's mouth. "You know what happens to magic users. Those who are not executed on the spot get experimented on in the worst ways you can imagine." Seeing the fear expand in Mokuba's eyes, Seto sighed and removed his hand. "You probably just imagined things. Did anyone see you?"

"I don't know," Mokuba admitted. "No one was with me but you know how Father likes to always have someone watching me."

"He doesn't trust us that's why," Seto explained. "Or doesn't trust me I should say."

"Niisama, I'm scared. No one was around so that magic had to come from me. What if someone saw me? What is going to happen to me?"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Seto vowed, hugging Mokuba tightly. "Come on." Standing up Seto grabbed Mokuba's hand and hurried out of his chamber and the two brothers quickly made their way through the castle until they reached the stables.

"What are we doing?" Mokuba asked as Seto prepared Critias.

"We're getting out of here," Seto told him. Easily picking up Mokuba, Seto placed his brother on Critias' back before climbing up himself. Kicking his heels, Critias took off at a fast gallop.

"Halt!" Soldiers yelled at the massive horse reached the gates that surrounded the castle.

"Hang on Mokuba," Seto commanded, pressing Critias onward. Mentally Seto cursed when two-dozen troops rushed forward. Seto had no clue how he was going to deal with so many soldiers while trying to escape on horseback with Mokuba with him.

Suddenly Seto felt a surge of energy coming from his body. A blinding white light appeared in the sky above them. From the light, a white dragon appeared and let loose a fiery attack killing all the soldiers.

"What is that?!" Seto heard Mokuba cry as Critias galloped through the gates. Seto could barely comprehend what was going on however as he found himself slumping forward as he started blacking out.

"Niisama!" Mokuba cried from behind him was the last thing Seto heard before the darkness consumed him.


	4. Two Princes

**A/N** – I'm going to now try to get through this story quickly since it's short so I can start a new AU story. See for Christmas I got a new PC game called _Pirates: Live the Life_ and I want to now do a pirates story staring Seto as he tries to impress the son of a governor (Yami). _Pirates of the Caribbean_ also happens to be a favorite movie of mine so I know I'm going to have fun with it.

Even before I got this new story idea I knew that this story would only be around 6 or 7 chapters, which is why I'm speeding up the chapters for this story instead of _Time Crisis_, which still has a long way to go but the writing process will pick up next week once the show comes back on and starts motivating me (I'll also be getting Season 3 on DVD in a few weeks for my birthday since no one bought it for me for Christmas, which will help me as well).

Finally I want to thank all the reviewers. Receiving reviews really help motivate me to update faster. Plus I like to know whatever one thinks of the story. Please excuse this chapter, though. Because of the weather I got held a day and a half at my 'rents place before heading to Florida. This chapter was quickly jotted down in a notepad during that extra day I had and part of it was written in the car. Therefore the standards of this chapter may not be up to normal par.

* * *

"Your pets are so cool Ryou!" Yugi cried with a laugh as the petted the shaggy head of Jounouchi who was licking at Yugi's face as he tried to lick off the sauce attached to Yugi's lips. "What's his name?"

"Jounouchi."

Yugi began giggling upon hearing Ryou's reply, while both Anzu and Jiichan also broke into a smile. The three of the along with Ryou, Bakura, and Yami were gathered around a table in Jiichan's home eating a delicious meal as the three travelers were hungry from walking such a long distance. On the Jounouchi was mooching off of everyone and on the table Honda was running around trying to grab some food off of everyone's plate.

"Stop it you stupid monkey!" Bakura snapped while trying to stab Honda with his fork. Bakura then proceeded to jab the fork through a huge piece of meat. He then used his canine teeth to rip apart the meat while giving Honda a smirking, evil, look.

"Bakura, be nice. How would you like it if you were a monkey?" Yami asked him while raising an eyebrow. "Because I'm sure I could make it happen."

"Stay out of this Pharaoh!"

"Can I kill him yet?" Yami asked the others who all shook their heads. "Damn."

As Bakura laughed at the misfortune of the young prince, the other's attentions were drawn to the arrival of three new people. Two of the new people were female and the third was a male with long black hair tied into a ponytail with green eyes. Upon seeing these new people Jounouchi hid under the table.

"What a cute monkey!" the youngest of the two girls, who had long brown hair, cried as she picked up Honda and tightly hugged him. Honda seemed to enjoy the experience very much as he cuddled against her breasts.

"Shizuka-chan, you don't know where that thing as been," the black haired guy scolded her. "He's probably covered with fleas!" As the new comer talked, Honda gave him an evil monkey death glare, which the man did not notice.

"Oh, come on Otogi-san," the girl called Shizuka protested. "He was on the table to I'm sure he's clean!"

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know but he's too cute to have fleas."

"Honda's clean," Ryou helpfully told them. This caused Yugi, Otogi, Jiichan and Anzu to break up with laugher. Honda would have given them all his evil monkey death glare but he was too busy being comforted by Shizuka who was still holding him against her breasts.

"What's that?" the other girl, a blonde wearing armor and a sword attached to her side, asked pointing to Jounouchi's tail that was sticking out from under the table.

"It's probably a rug or something Mai," Otogi replied once his laugher had subsided.

"Nah, it's not a rug. It's a dog!" Mai declared as she bent down to get a closer look at the animal. "Aww . . . you're a cute one! Yes you are! Why are you hiding the table like that? Come on Boy! Come out where we can see you!"

Under Mai's coaching, Jounouchi crawled out from under the table while wagging his tail. "Good Boy!" Mai told him as she patted his fur and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. "What's you're name?"

"Jounouchi," Yugi told her with a grin on his face.

"Jounouchi?" Mai repeated while giving the large shaggy dog an odd look.

"Oniichan?" Shizuka asked with a gasp and Jounouchi went to crawl back under the table but Mai stopped him.

"You're still cute," she told him with some more pats to his body.

"So what's going on here?" Otogi asked the others getting down to business. Otogi, along with Mai and Shizuka had been on patrol when Yami and the others had arrived at their base.

"This is Prince Atemu. He's the heir of the Magia Kingdom," Jiichan explained. "He's going to lead us to victory against the Draak Empire."

"I am?" Yami asked with a startled look on his face.

"Well we're screwed," Bakura replied. "Any one know the way to the nearest Empire recruitment center?"

"You wouldn't do that would you Bakura?" Ryou asked looking at him with his large brown eyes.

"No," Bakura mumbled with a small pout. He then narrowed his eyes at the smirk Yami was giving him. "Don't act like you're not whipped either!"

"You got it all wrong Thief," Yami replied with a shake of his head.

"Guys perhaps we can get back to the matter at hand?" Yugi suggested. "There's still the Emperor to deal with. We could be attacked here at any moment!"

"Plus there's the fact that the Dark Prince killed Yami's mother," Bakura _helpfully_ added.

"Shut up Bakura!" Yami grumbled.

* * *

"Niisama! Niisama!"

"Mokuba?" Seto muttered as he finally woke up. Looking around Seto found that he was on the ground resting against the trunk of a large tree. "Mokuba what happened?"

"This white dragon appeared then you blacked out," Mokuba informed him from his position kneeing on the ground next to his brother. "Critias kept on galloping until finally stopping a few minutes ago. I managed to get you off and over here and I tried healing you Niisama but I don't know how too!"

"It's okay Mokuba," Seto gently replied while giving him a small smile. "You did good."

Getting to his feet, Seto got a better looked at their surroundings. He saw that they were in some kind of forest. "Do you know where we are?"

"No," Mokuba sadly replied thinking he had failed his brother. "Critias was running too fast. Plus I was really concerned about you to notice."

"It's all right," Seto reassured him. "Critias was heading in that direction," he deduced from looking at his horse's footprints. "Also I can hear a river somewhere to the right of us. We should probably follow that river for a while. Hopefully we can find some village and find out where the hell we are."

"What if we don't find someplace?" Mokuba asked with a worried look on his face. Unlike his brother, Mokuba had never been out in the world before. All he knew was life at their father's home.

"Don't worry. There's always a village near a river to help lost travelers. You should know that."

"But what are we going to do? Father will be after us!"

"I don't know," Seto softly admitted.

"Will we join the Rebellion?"

"The Rebellion isn't our fight," Seto scoffed. "Our goal is to stay alive and that you don't get caught."

"What about you?!" Mokuba protested. "That dragon came from you! We both know it!"

"I know."

"Then do something about it! We can help get rid of Father for good!"

"Mokuba-"

"Please Niisama! I don't want to live my life in fear!"

"Okay, Mokuba. If that's what you really want," Seto replied with a gentle smile. HE was such a sucker for his brother.

Strolling over to Critias, Seto helped Mokuba up before climbing up behind him. "Lets find that village and figure out where we are first," he told his younger brother. "From there we'll figure out how to find the Rebels."

* * *

"Pharaoh why are we sitting around wasting time here?" Bakura complained strolling into the room that had been given to Yami while they were staying with the Rebels. "Lets go out and have some fun by killing those evil Empire guys!"

"Why aren't you busy screwing Ryou?" Yami asked in an annoyed voice. "I'm trying to go over this map and junk that Jiichan and Aibou gave me. I'm supposed to be figuring out how to attack the Empire."

"Just summon a monster or something and crush them!"

"No!"

"Speaking of which, where's the fluff ball?" Bakura asked looking around the room. Kuribo was nowhere to be found and thinking back Bakura didn't remember seeing him at dinner either.

"He's away right now. I'm supposed to be practicing my summoning," Yami explained. For a brief second Yami's eyes glowed before Kuribo popped into the room.

"Kuri?"

"It's nothing, I was just practicing," Yami told him before turning his attention back to Bakura. "See! I didn't even faint that time!"

"Wow that's so great!" Bakura sarcastically replied. "You can summon a little fur ball!"

Narrowing his eyes at Bakura, Yami's eyes glowed once again. Joining Kuribo in the room was the Black Magician and the Black Magician Girl.

"Happy?" Yami asked while the Black Magician Girl 'Hmphed' and gave Bakura dirty look. The Black Magician meanwhile was staring down the thief.

"I'll think I'll go and leave you alone now _Prince,_" Bakura wisely replied before darting back out of the room.

* * *

"Find out anything?" Seto asked Mokuba as soon as he returned to the forest from the village they had found. Seto was far too recognizable to go wandering around in the open. Therefore he reluctantly sent Mokuba into the two to gather information while he waited in the woods.

"Apparently we're near one of the Rebel bases," Mokuba told him. "The people I spoke to said to keep following the river until we reach a large mountain. They said when we get that far, they'll find us."

"Great," Seto grumbled. He didn't like the idea of being caught off guard by the Rebels but he didn't have much choice.

"Please Niisama! Promise you'll behave when we find them!"

"Don't worry, I won't change my mind," Seto replied, reassuring his brother.

"Who knows, maybe their leader is cute," Mokuba mysteriously told him.

"Mokuba!"

"I'm kidding Niisama! Kidding!" Mokuba laughed before they headed off once again.

The two brothers traveled for some time before they saw the mounting that Mokuba was told of.

"I see a path over there," Mokuba said as he pointed to it from where he sat behind his brother on top of Critias.

"Yes," Seto agreed while bringing the horse to a halt. "But I want to wait here though. It'll be able to escape from here then on that mountain. Considering we don't know how these Rebels will respond to our presence, I'm not taking any chances."

"But how will they know we're here?"

"They'll know."

* * *

"Jiichan we have a situation," Otogi said as he hurried over to the elder and his grandson.

"What is it?"

"Our lookouts just reported a black horse arrived at the base of the mountain. It's the Dark Prince. He appears alone but we don't know for sure."

"Send out troops," Jiichan darkly replied. Bakura had told them about what the Dark Prince did to his daughter and Jiichan had vowed revenge.

"No, I'll take care of it," Yami said as he approached them. "Aibou please lead me out of here."

"Okay Yami," Yugi replied with a nod of his head. Once again Yami was lead through the maze that was inside of the mountain, memorizing the way as they went so he would not get lost next time. Finally after a short time they arrived at a hidden entrance at the base of the mountain.

"What do you think?" Yugi whispered to his cousin.

"I think something is up because he is not alone."

Emerging from their hiding place, Yami strolled over to the massive horse, surprising Yugi with his bold move.

"You're in charge here?" the Dark Prince asked in surprise upon seeing Yami before his grew unreadable again.

"I am," Yami confirmed. "And you, Seto are the Dark Prince. What do you want? I heard you killed my mother the other day."

"Mother?" Seto asked in confusion. "If you're referring to that woman who was the Queen of Magia, she killed herself."

"He's lying!" Yugi cried from where he had also emerged far behind Yami.

"What do you want?" Yami repeated while ignoring his cousin.

"My brother, Mokuba, has magic abilities," Seto explained and Yami laid his eyes on the boy clinging to the Dark Prince's back. "It was not safe enough at home so we left. We want to join you and help defeat our _Father_."

"Yugi take Mokuba back to the base," Yami ordered while keeping his eyes on Seto. "I'll be along soon enough."

"What?!" Yugi protested. "But they're the sons of the Emperor! You're not seriously believing them!"

"I am."

"Niisama?" Mokuba quietly asked while looking at his brother.

"Go, Mokuba," Seto told him. Like Yami, the Dark Prince's eyes were locked with his rival. "It will be okay." Mokuba slid off Critias' back and hurried over to Yugi, who quickly retreated back to the mountain leaving the Dark Prince and the heir of Magia alone.

The two continued to stare at each other until Yami broke the silence.

"I missed you," he said breaking into a small grin.

"I missed you too," Seto replied as he returned the smile. Jumping off of Critias's back, Seto sexually strolled over to Yami and wrapped his arms around the young prince who buried his face into Seto's chest.

"It feels like it's been forever since I last saw you," Yami murmured. "I don't like it one bit."

"I know," Seto agreed. "But we're together now. That's all that matters." Using one hand, Seto cupped Yami's chin and lifted up his face so that they could look into each other's eyes once again. A few seconds later, Seto captured Yami's lips in a kiss.

Their kiss was sweet and tender but there was also a hunger that each of them had. Both were coming close to ripping off their clothes and going at it.

"Seto, lets stop this and go home so we can have some real fun," Yami groaned against Seto's lips. "I'm sure the others won't mind."

"Not yet love," Seto replied as he finally pulled away causing Yami to pout at him.

"Fine but keep in mind that Jounouchi and Honda are going to kill you when they see you," Yami told him and Seto began laughing.

"They liked my surprise?"

"Hardly," Yami replied while frowning at his boyfriend before breaking out into a smile. "Although the rest of us do find it amusing."

"I aim to please," Seto told him with a smirk on his face as he wrapped an arm around Yami's shoulders.


	5. Home Sweet Home

**A/N** – This is it folks! Last chapter! For those who are confused you won't be after this chapter. :)

* * *

In one hand Seto held the reins of Critias as he led the large, black stallion through the cavern. In his other hand, Seto gripped Yami's hand as the spiky haired prince showed him the way to the Rebels secret underground village.

As they walked, the pair discussed various things including coming up with a strategy to bring down the Emperor. Keeping themselves busy with their conversation, it wasn't long before they were back at the Rebels base. At the entrance to the place, they were met by Jiichan.

"Murderer!" Jiichan hissed upon seeing Seto.

"Jiichan, it's not like that," Yami told him with a firm look on his face. "Seto didn't kill Mother. Those were just lies of Bakura. He's here to offer his help to stop his adopted father."

"I don't like this one bit," Jiichan sternly replied with a glare at the Dark Prince. "But I'll go along with whatever you say."

Yami gave the old man a nod of his head of approval. Seto meanwhile glared back at Jiichan. "Where is Mokuba?" he demanded to know.

With another glare at the Dark Prince, Jiichan turned around and silently led them into his home where Yugi, Otogi, Shizuka, Honda and Jounouchi were gathered. Upon seeing Seto, Jounouchi bared his teeth and started to lunge at the tall brunet but Yugi held him back by pouncing on the dog. Honda also normally would have tried to attack Seto but at the moment he was contently in Shizuka's arms who was holding and rocking him as if he was a baby. Neither Shizuka nor Honda noticed the angry look Otogi was giving them.

"Where's Mokuba?" Seto demanded once again.

"Sleeping!" Yugi cried as he continued to wrestle with the large shaggy dog. "He was extremely tired!"

"Good," Seto replied satisfied that Mokuba was okay. He then smirked down at Jounouchi. "Hello Bonkotsu. That look suits you."

"Seto…" Yami warmed as Jounouchi tried lunging at him once again.

"What?" Seto asked giving his lover an innocent look. Yami in return just shook his head at his lover before turning back to the others.

"Seto is here to help," he told them. "He has informed me that at this minute, even as we speak, Draak forces are marching towards us."

"I was set to join up with the main force by now," Seto explained. "When we fled the castle our scouts were close to finalizing the location of this place. Since Mokuba and I were able to find this place easily enough there is no doubt in my mind that this location will be known by now."

"That is why we need to attack now," Yami added. "According to Seto, the majority of the soldiers at Gozaburo's castle have joined with this army that is making its way here. This leaves the castle itself vulnerable to a surprise attack."

"Empty this place now," Seto advised. "Anyone who can fight will be involved on the attack against Draak Castle. The rest should retreat to a safe place."

"If we take a shorter route we will arrive at Draak Castle before their forces reach here," Yami explained. "With a little luck our own forces will be able to overthrow and kill Gozaburo before the main army realizes anything."

"There could be a problem with the commanders when that army returns," Seto added. "But the troops themselves are loyal to me. I practically grew up in the army. They know and respect me. They'll follow my orders."

"And that's it?" Otogi asked in disbelief. "You expect us to organize ourselves in mere hours to abandon this place and march to the heart of the Draak Empire?"

"It can be done," Yugi argued. "We knew right from the beginning we might have to abandon this place quickly. Pretty much everyone here knows how to handle a weapon. We can do this! I know we can!"

"We leave in an hour," Seto coolly ordered them before strolling off to find Mokuba.

"Leave everything behind except for what you'll need in battle," Yami told them. "The lighter we are, the faster we'll travel. Spread the word to the others."

The others grumbled as they began to hurry about their business. Yami then wandered off to find Seto and to spend some time with him.

* * *

"Why do I have to come along?" Bakura complained as he walked side by side with Ryou. In front of them was Mokuba riding Critias' saddle while Seto lead the horse along as he walked next to Yami. "Lets ditch them and take off somewhere safe."

"Why don't you do this…help us defeat the Empire and then seize control for yourself when the others are not paying attention?" Ryou suggested causing Bakura's eyes to light up.

"Come on! Let's get a move on it!" He yelled up to Seto and Yami. In an attempt to move them along faster, Bakura began pushing at Critias' causing the massive horse to become extremely annoyed.

Kicking his hind legs, Critias hit Bakura in the chest causing the thief to go flying in the air. Bakura landed a few feet behind, his landing cushioned by Yugi whom his fell on top of.

"I'm going to have you for dinner tonight!" Bakura angrily yelled up at the horse. Around him and Yugi, the others silently walked on, ignoring the white-haired thief.

* * *

"Why don't we end this stupid thing?" Seto suggested to Yami as they walked hand in hand while leading the Rebel troops.

"Sorry Babe but you promised," Yami reminded him. Pausing his stride slightly, Yami leaned up on his tiptoes and gave Seto a kiss on the lips.

"Get a room you two!" Yugi protested from on top of Critias. Upon Yami's insistence, after the incident with Bakura, Yugi had joined Mokuba in riding on Seto's horse. This of course led to a string of curses from Bakura who thought he should be the one allowed to ride since he hated walking and he claimed to be hurt from the kick he received.

Pulling slightly away, the two lovers continued on their way, but would shoot looks at each other every so often.

* * *

"Come on! I'm an expert with horses," Bakura protested yet again to Seto. The hick hadn't really hurt him, except for his pride, but he was trying to take advantage of the situation and it wasn't working. "Tell him Pharaoh!"

"I don't know anything."

"You'll regret that someday Pharaoh!" Bakura threatened with a growl.

"There, there, Bakura," Ryou said as he tried comforting the thief while patting his back.

* * *

_'__Kaiba's dead, Kaiba's dead, Kaiba's dead,'_ Jounouchi chanted inside his head while giving the Dark Prince an evil doggy glare. The only thing that kept him from attacking Seto again was the fact Mai was walking beside him praising him for his good behavior.

"Good boy!" Mai cooed again as she reached down to pat his head. She would do that every so often and Jounouchi was enjoying the attention.

Wagging his tail, Jounouchi looked up at Mai. But while doing that out of the corner of his eye he found Honda once again in Shizuka's arms, cuddling up to her breasts.

_'Honda's dead, Honda's dead, Honda's dead.'_

In a sly move, Otogi, who was walking next to Shizuka, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his body.

_'Otogi's dead, Otogi's dead, Otogi's dead.'_

* * *

_'The Pharaoh's dead, the Pharaoh's dead, the Pharaoh's dead,'_ Bakura thoughts chanted for no reason whatsoever. Bakura was bored and wanted the journey over.

"The Pharaoh and the priest in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage then comes the Pharaoh with a baby carriage!"

"Bakura shut up!" Yami yelled back at the thief and it was only then Bakura realized he hand been singing out loud. But he decided to take advantage of the situation.

"I can't help it if the only way people know you're not a girl is because you haven't been knocked up yet!" Bakura taunted.

_Thwack_.

Once again Critias hooves came into contact with Bakura chest and once again the thief went flying through the air. Unfortunately this time he did not land on anyone.

* * *

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Bakura asked as he now limped along. Beside him Ryou was giving him a concerned glance. Wisely the pair had moved away from Critias and both were now walking up front with Yami and Seto.

"I thought I told you to shut up?" Yami replied.

"Since when have I ever listened to you Pharaoh? Are we bitchy because w haven't gotten any lately?"

With a hard shove from Seto, Bakura quickly found himself underneath the water of the lake they had been walking next to. Adding to Bakura's new annoyance, when he had popped his head out of the water, he ended up with a duck on top of his head.

"I'll get you for this Pharaoh," Bakura growled as he watched the others walk away. Underneath the water, against his chest an object glowed briefly before disappearing.

"No," Bakura muttered under his breath. Now was not the time for such thing as he need the Pharaoh and the priest to get him out of there.

"Are you all right?" Ryou called from shore. Grabbing a hold of Bakura's hand, he helped pulled the thief from the lake.

"I'm fine," Bakura grumbled as he sloshed along in his now wet clothes as they hurried to catch up with the others.

"Now, I remember why I lived in the desert," the still wet Bakura complained as he tried wringing out his hair.

Bakura sighed as he thought about his former home. Sometimes he missed it a lot. He had been a sexy badass back then who gave the Pharaoh nothing but trouble.

A side-glance at Ryou told the thief why it was worth it to remain away from his home. Besides his home was no longer what he remembered it to be. Ryou had told him so and showed him the pictures. But still it would be nice to visit there again once everything was done.

'Besides," Bakura though to himself as a smirk appeared on his lips. 'It'll be nice to bug Malik again.'

* * *

"We're here," Seto finally announced as he stopped at the edge of the forest. Across the plain they could see Draak Castle.

"Mokuba, I want you to stay here," Seto commanded as he lifted down his younger brother. Yugi hopped down after Mokuba and a few seconds later Seto was picking up Yami and placed him onto the horse's back before climbing up himself and sitting in front of the prince. Since they were both summoners, Seto and Yami would be leading the attack aboard Critias. The others would be on foot.

"Ready?" Seto asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Yami. The prince nodded his head so Seto kicked his heels causing Critias to begin to gallop.

Clutching tightly to Seto's waist, so that he wouldn't fall off, Yami allowed his magic to flow through him. In the sky above them, the Black Magician and Black Magician Girl formed and they flew on ahead to the castle to unleash a powerful magic attack.

As the troops left at the castle rushed forward to strike back, Seto unleashed his own ka. Three majestic White Dragons briefly appeared in the sky before transforming into the ultimate beast, the Ultimate Blue Eyes Dragon.

It's Ultimate Burst attack destroyed any advancing troops that did not dodge out of the way. Seto then had his Ultimate Dragon turn it's attack onto the castle itself, blowing a huge hold in the side of it.

While that was happening, Seto jumped off Critias and began attacking with his sword. Yami meanwhile stayed on top of the horse as he called back the Black Magician and Black Magician Girl to help Seto. But Yami and Seto were not the only ones who were fighting.

Like Seto, Mai was using her sword to attack the troops. Yugi and Jiichan used their black magic while Otogi, Anzu and Shizuka, who had finally let Honda go, pummeled the enemy with arrows.

Across the battlefield Jounouchi ran with Honda again on his back. Jounouchi would leap at a soldier biting him, while Honda would simultaneously jump onto the soldier's head and attempt to claw at the person's face. When the soldier was down and out, Honda would jump back to Jounouchi who would then race off to find a new victim.

Bakura meanwhile was slicing down soldier after solider with a dagger in each hand. Normally Bakura would enjoy shedding so much blood but not this time. Before the fighting had started Bakura had wanted to tell Ryou to stay back with Mokuba. But before he had the chance, Ryou had taken off running into the battle and now Bakura was desperately trying to find him.

* * *

"Just completely destroy the castle!" Yami yelled to Seto. The prince was on the ground now as well, using his staff to hit the troops. Sending the Black Magician, and Black Magician Girl back to the castle to help the Ultimate Blue Eyes, Yami summoned Kuribo, which began sinking his teeth into the arms of the men around him.

* * *

"Ryou get out of here! Wait with Mokuba!" Bakura ordered while grabbing Ryou's arm. Bakura had finally found his smaller boyfriend among the fighting.

"But I want to help!" Ryou protested.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

As the two lovers argued they didn't notice that they were being surrounded by eight soldiers all armed with swords.

"Oh, shit," Bakura muttered when he saw what had happened. Looking down at his daggers, then at their swords, Bakura knew there was no way he could take them all on.

"Bakura, I'm scare!" Ryou whimpered as he tried hiding behind Bakura's back.

Feeling Ryou tremble against him Bakura knew what he had to do. Dropping the daggers to the ground, Bakura stood up straight and gave the soldiers all an innocent look. "Would you all like to see a magic trick before you mercilessly kill us?"

"Like what?"

Smirking, Bakura closed his eyes and held his hands up to chest creating a circle. Chimes were head as Bakura began to chuckle. Moments later a gold ring appeared around his neck with pointy spikes dangling down from it.

Bakura's smirk grew as he snapped opened his eyes. The ring around his neck began to glow and a few seconds later all the soldiers around them dropped to the ground dead.

Yami snapped his head up upon feeling the shadow powers at work.

Ripping open his robes, an upside down golden pyramid hung from his neck. The object began glowing and the Wadjet Eye formed on Yami's forehead.

"Bakura!" he roared.

"This ends now!" Seto declared equality annoyed as his lover. Reaching up to his collar, Seto pressed a small KC buttons and the world around them went dark.

* * *

Jounouchi had no clue what had happened. One minute he had been racing across the battlefield with Honda on his back, the next thing he knew everything had vanished.

Sitting up, Jounouchi's head came in contact with the clear, plastic covering of the VR pod. Rubbing his head, Jounouchi was finally able to sit up as the cover lifted completely away.

"Kaiba!" Jounouchi yelled as he jumped out of the pod and marched down the room to the tall CEO who was already out of his own pod and was helping Yami out of his. "You turned me into a dog! And your stupid game stopped working!"

"I stopped it," Seto replied with a roll of his eyes. Next to him Yami frantically searched around for Bakura but both the pods for the white-haired thief and Ryou were already empty.

"Leave Kaiba alone," Mai scolded as she strolled over to Jounouchi and patted his head. If Jounouchi still had his tail it would have been wagging madly by then. "You made a very cute dog!"

"Besides shouldn't you be more concerned about your sister?" Seto asked pointing to where Otogi and Honda were both helping her out of her pod.

"Get away from her you creeps!" Jounouchi yelled as he hurried back down the line of pods to save Shizuka with Mai following close behind him.

"Well I think it was a great game!" Yugi said as he walked up to Seto and Yami with Anzu and his grandfather by his side.

"I agree!" Jiichan happily cried. "It's not everyday that someone old like me gets to join in with your adventures!"

"It was rally cool," Anzu added. Behind them Jounouchi was now beating the crap out of Otogi and Honda while both Shizuka and Mai chatted with each other while they ignored the boys.

"So when do you plan on adding the game to Kaibaland?" Yugi asked.

"In about three months hopefully," Mokuba replied. "There's still some tweaking that needs to be done. Plus the story we were playing won't be available to the general public. Three different story lines have been created to debut the game with more to come later."

"But what happened at the end there with Bakura?" Anzu asked. "He was using the powers of his Millennium Ring but that was not programmed into the game."

"That's easy," Seto scoffed. "He was unconsciously using his powers in this world. I built in an emergency response system so that if something went wrong while we were inside Yami could control the system through his puzzle. Bakura either figured this out or took a gamble and got lucky."

"Oh."

A few minutes later everyone except for Seto and Yami had left the Kaiba Corporation testing labs. Mokuba had gone with the others to show them the way out and he was still a tad upset with his brother at the moment for not letting him take part in the battle.

"What's wrong?" Seto asked Yami while rubbing his back once they were alone. "You've been very quiet since we got back."

"It all just seemed so real," Yami murmured. "Well at least when Bakura wasn't around since he obviously didn't believe in remaining in character."

"It's supposed to be that way," Seto told him while frowning. "I thought you were enjoying yourself."

"I was…but I was wondering what other types of environment this VR thing could produce."

"Any type I want," Seto told him as he wrapped his arms around Yami and hugged him. "What were you thinking about?"

"Home," Yami mumbled as he buried his face into Seto's chest.

"I take it you don't mean the mansion," Seto replied with a small sigh and Yami looked up at him.

"I love it there with you!" Yami quickly cried, not wanting Seto to get the wrong idea. "But sometimes I miss the palace, the ocean of sand, seeing the magnificent Ka of people as they sailed up high in the air…I just miss it so often and seeing my parents 'alive' again along with the Ka for Mahaado and Mana made me miss home again."

"Someday I'll take you there again," Seto whispered before gently kissing the petite, former Pharaoh.

* * *

"Got the tickets!" Bakura triumphantly declared as he held up the two first class tickets he had stolen to Cairo, Egypt.

It had been a few days after they had been apart of the game testing for Seto's knew VR game and Ryou had to wonder if Bakura really did want to visit his home again, was running from Yami whom they had yet to face since that day or had to flee the country for the time being for one of the thousand other crimes Bakura recently committed. Ryou didn't really care though because he had never seen Bakura so happy before.

Picking up their bags the two headed towards their gate where an attendant was explaining to an elderly couple that they it wasn't the airports fault that they had lost their tickets and would have to buy new ones if they couldn't find them.

Meanwhile on the other side of Domino Airport, the private Kaiba Corp plane was being prepared for takeoff.

"Thank you so much for surprising me with this trip!" Yami squealed for about the hundredth time that day. "I'm really looking forward to seeing everything! Do you think we can stop by my tomb? I want to see if everything is still intact and that no tomb robber," immediately Yami thought of Bakura, "has robbed it!"

"Yes we can go there," Seto replied with a small smile on his face. He liked seeing Yami so happy, which was why he arranged the private getaway for just the two of them. "Don't worry though, I've already called Isis and she assured me that no one has been in your tomb since Yugi's grandfather. She checked the records herself."

"Yes, but I want to visit it anyway!" Yami declared as he leaned back into his posh seat.

As both 3000 year old spirits sad aboard their respective planes, neither could contain their excitement about seeing their home, no matter how much it had changed over the years, for the first time since they were reborn in the modern world. But the thing they were enjoying the most was finally g getting away from the other for the time being.

_'So long loser,'_ they both thought about each other as the planes lifted off into the air leaving Domino behind.

* * *

**A/N** – Okay, I have to ask. When did everyone figure out they were in a VR world? There were hints all the way along in the other chapters but no one seemed to pick up on them. So did you figure it out before they woke up in the KC lab or at that point?

The easiest way to have figured it out was to pay attention to Bakura. Unlike the others who were playing the characters they were given, Bakura decided to just be himself most of the time, which was why he was always calling Yami "Pharaoh". As well at certain times the others would step out of character like when discovering that Jounouchi and Honda were animals and Seto's and Yami's reunion.

BTW, this story originally wasn't going to take this route. But after the first chapter I decided it would be fun since no one would expect it. After I decided on the VR route, originally it was only going to be Yami in the VR world who was bored one day while Seto was at work and the others at school. VR Seto was going to be killed which was when Yami would wake up to find that it was the doing of the real Seto who wanted his baby back in the living world. At that point Seto declared Yami had too much time on his hands and they stopped at an animal shelter on their way home.

The second ending involved it being only both Yami and Bakura in the VR. Hey I like Bakura, he's good for humor, and wanted him it in.

Finally I came to this ending having them all there. The part where they leave Domino for Egypt however was added in at the last minute while I was writing it. I'm not really sure why that part is there…


End file.
